Ringing in 2017

Since my parents had to cancel their trip to visit us for Christmas and New Years (details here), we decided to throw a last minute party at our house for NYE. Mostly everyone we knew already had plans or were out of town but luckily some of our neighbors were in for the celebration and we did a little house hopping to another neighbor's house to set off fireworks at midnight.

It was a very Christmas-themed NYE party because we bought so much food and drinks to celebrate with my parents but instead went out of town on Christmas Day to spend it with K's family.





Nothing goes to waste around here so we cooked turkey and some sides for dinner but we did have the NYE essentials ~ champagne and fireworks to ring in the new year.

We ate and had some eggnog and drinks and then headed over to our neighbor's house to pop the champagne and light off fireworks at midnight.

With my sister in town and lots on our agenda for the whole week, this was the perfect way to ring in 2017 with new friends in the neighborhood.

Christmas Vacation Scenes

Our house was beginning to look a lot like Christmas. K and I spent weeks decorating and organizing the house for the arrival of my parents and sister to spend our first Florida Christmas together until we got the news that my dad was in the hospital. So to make a long story short, only my sister made it to Florida. I was really upset at first but we made the best of it and decided to take a road trip to K's family on Christmas day.

 We celebrated early at home on Christmas Eve opening gifts with my mom via FaceTime and cooking a smaller version of Christmas dinner.


 
  
I wanted to get that out of the way before backing up a few days when my sister arrived in Orlando. We were all disappointed by the news but decided to make the best of it and planned a few extra things to keep us busy.

Last week Friday we visited the Pulse Nightclub memorial site and then went to see the Christmas lights at Wall Street downtown Orlando before heading to the Amway Center to watch the Magic vs Lakers game.

I'm happy to report the Orlando Magic won and my sister had a blast at the game!

On Christmas day, we made our way to Florida's west coast with my sister to spend Christmas with K's extended family.

My MIL absolutely spoiled us with gifts but most of all she spoiled me with 3 gorgeous Pandora charms to add to my small yet growing collection.

We stayed Christmas night at a hotel near the water and woke up to beautiful weather on Monday so we walked around the riverfront before grabbing lunch and making the road trip back home.

On Wednesday night we had tickets to go see Dancing With The Stars live at the new performing arts theater downtown. My cousins drove into town (to take my parents place) and we all went our for some dinner before the show.

 

We had amazing seats quite close up to the stage and they put on a fantastic show staring Laurie Hernandez the winner of Season 23 (also US women's Olympic gymnast).

It was pretty difficult snapping any quality photos with the fancy lighting and the movement of dancing but I'll share some more of the fun details next week.

To wrap up, it was a far from traditional Christmas this year but it all worked out. My Dad is doing much better and technology helped us stay connected with my mom all weekend long. 

Today we are on to another adventure.

Happy Friday and enjoy the weekend!

SIL's Wedding Weekend

Another fun weekend for the books spent with family and awesome weather on Florida's west coast.

On Friday afternoon we drove two hours for my sister-in-law's wedding weekend. By the time we checked into the hotel and got settled it was already 7pm so we walked to the nearby marina and settled for some seafood dinner at Pier 22 riverfront restaurant.

After dinner we met up with my SIL and her wedding party at their favorite pub where they went to hang out after the rehearsal dinner.

On Saturday morning, we got properly caffeinated and relaxed at the hotel before getting dressed and dolled up for the wedding that afternoon.

 

The ceremony was short and sweet at their childhood church and then the reception was at a cute banquet hall for an amazing dinner, live music, and lots of mingling with family and the kids. The wedding ended fairly early and I opted out of the after-party for the sake of getting some rest.

Sunday was a gorgeous day which made it very hard to want to leave. We checked out of the hotel and decided to enjoy the weather by walking around the marina and getting some lunch at Riverhouse Reef & Grill before hitting the road.

 Beautiful weekends like that make me wish I lived closer to the water. I hope your weekend was just as fulfilling!


Joining the lovely Biana for some Weekending fun.

Friday Reflections

Four posts in one week...who am I? I guess that's what a mandatory hurricane curfew and a three-day weekend will do to you. No complaints here since I feel somewhat organized again.

My SIL's wedding is this weekend so that calls for pretty nails and this is the color combo I'm rolling with: Essie's Chinchilly (my favorite), Lady Like and Sugar Daddy.




I just recently found out about the soft as silk LuLaRoe leggings from a coworker so I had to buy a pair, except I cheated and found them for half the price on Amazon. They're from VIV Collection but honestly you can't tell the difference. I'm tempted to buy 10 more pairs!
 



Another Bath & Body Works haul happened recently because when 50% off 3-wick candles comes around... that's when I stock up. I got my usual fall/pumpkin candles but I also bought some year round scents such as Hello Beautiful.




I finished Amy Schumer's The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo audiobook earlier this week and since then I've moved onto The Girl on The Train. I know I'm late to the party but I'm late to reading books altogether. So far I'm confused with the story but starting to pick up the pieces. I'm not sure I could sit through physically reading this book but the audio version will do on my commute to and from work.

The new Hello Kitty wine collection is quite adorable and since it's the weekend, why not share? 

Cheers to the weekend!

Joining my fellow Floridian Amanda for Friday Faves.